1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fitted mattress cover that has a stretchable stitchbonded fabric skirt. More particularly, the invention concerns such a fitted mattress cover in which the stitchbonded skirt exhibits elastic stretch in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the skirt and provides a smooth, snug fit to the mattress on which the cover is fitted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fitted mattress covers are well known. A typical fitted mattress cover comprises top panel and a skirt attached to and extending at about ninety degrees from the periphery of the panel. In use, the top panel covers the top of surface of the mattress and the skirt covers the sides of the mattress.
As used herein, the term "longitudinal direction" refers to the direction that follows around the long dimension of the sides of a mattress and the term "transverse direction" refers to the direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and is parallel to the thickness dimension of the mattress.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,953 discloses a fitted mattress pad cover that has a skirt formed of a gathered layer of inelastic material in which a plurality of spaced apart elastic cords are attached in the longitudinal direction parallel to the periphery of the top panel. The skirt material is elastic in a direction parallel to the elastic cords (i.e., in the longitudinal direction of the skirt) and inelastic in the transverse direction of the skirt.
Because mattresses are manufactured with a thickness that is typically in the range of about 7 to about 15 inches, various skirted mattress covers also have been disclosed for accommodating such different thicknesses, with the aim of providing one size of skirted mattress cover to fit mattresses of all conventional thicknesses.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,187,952 and 5,247,893, disclose a fitted mattress cover having an elastic fitted skirt. The skirt is formed from a stitchbonded fabric which comprises a substantially nonbonded fibrous layer in which elastic yarns, such as spandex elastomeric yarns, are stitched to create lanes of different stretchability in the fabric. The skirt material provides stretchability of 190% and 60% in the longitudinal direction in the first and second lanes, respectively, and provides 80 to 90% stretchability in the transverse direction. As a result of the different lane stretchabilities, the mattress cover skirts have a large over-all stretchability in the longitudinal direction, but no more than 90% over-all stretchability in the transverse direction. The lanes of different stretchability create a striped or banded appearance in the skirt fabric. Similar mattress covers having stitchbonded fabric skirts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,115. The skirts have an elastic stretch of 60% in the longitudinal direction of the skirt and an inelastic stretch of about 30% in the transverse direction.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/397,328, filed Mar. 2, 1995, discloses a fitted mattress cover having a stitchbonded skirt that does not have a banded appearance. The skirt has a stretchability that is greater in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction. The total stretchability in the longitudinal direction is less than about 60%, with less than one-third of the stretch being recoverable. The total stretchability in the transverse direction about 100 to 200% with less than half of the stretch being recoverable. Because less than half of the transverse stretch is recoverable (i.e., elastic), the skirt often does not have a neat and snug fit to the sides and edges of the mattress.
Each of the known fitted mattress covers have found some success in the bedding market, but further improvements are desired. For example, skirts of such mattress covers typically had very little or no transverse elastic stretch. Also, skirts which were elastic only at the edges of the cover often did not fit the mattress properly along the entire thickness of the mattress. Accordingly, the aim of this invention is to provide a fitted mattress cover that has elastic stretch in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the skirt, that can fit mattresses of different thicknesses and that retains these desirable characteristics even after several launderings.